Learning about the world of the student: writing poetry for teacher–student understanding

The authors aim to assist teachers to gain a deeper understanding of the inner lives of students especially those with special educational needs. This aim is pursued in two ways. The first is an exploration of the experience of writing poetry using the students' sentiments, actual words and phrases – a poetic engagement. The second is to argue for the transformative potential of this poetic engagement for the practitioner seeking to ‘get alongside’ the student.     

Mexican Americans and the push for culturally relevant education: the bilingual education movement in Tucson, 1958–1969

This essay traces the bilingual education movement that began in Tucson through the efforts of local teachers, university faculty and educational leaders. It is argued that Mexican Americans and their allies played a crucial role in promoting the merits of bilingual education at the local, state and national levels. Their advocacy of Spanish-for-Spanish-speakers programmes as a culturally relevant means of improving educational outcomes for Mexican American students led to a push for bilingual education with the support of the National Education Association. The work that educators from Tucson accomplished focused national attention on the education of Mexican Americans and ultimately contributed to the passage of the Bilingual Education Act of 1968. This legislation sparked a national movement to expand bilingual education programmes throughout the Southwest and other parts of the nation.     

The power of the purse: student funding and the labour market for Dutch Reformed and Catholic theology students, 1800–1880

Several European countries were unable to match student numbers with labour market demand during the nineteenth century. The causes of this mismatch may be found in the organisation of higher education and the funding of students. Drawing on a variety of sources, this paper compares financial support available to Reformed and Catholic theology students in The Netherlands, to examine how differences in student funding affected enrolment and labour-market patterns. While low tuition fees increased access to the public universities, generous student financing provided by numerous parties caused a structural oversupply of Protestant theology students. The private Catholic colleges instead selected students and applied grants specifically to encourage graduation, consequently balancing students more closely with labour-market demand. This relative success of regional colleges over national universities mirrors the primary education history literature on the benefits of local coordination and resource allocation.     

Greater engagement in and responsibility for learning: what happens when students cross the threshold of student–faculty partnership

The importance of student engagement in higher education is increasingly recognised. As a result, questions have arisen regarding how best to inspire and support students in taking greater interest in and more active responsibility for their learning. Student–faculty partnerships that position students as consultants in explorations of pedagogical practice inspire and support engagement and responsibility that carry over from those partnerships into students' classroom participation. However, such partnership constitutes for many students a ‘threshold concept’. Because partnering with faculty in analyses and revisions of teaching and learning both requires and inspires students to redefine their roles, responsibilities and sense of themselves, student–faculty partnership proves troublesome, transformative, discursive, irreversible and integrative. In a case study of one partnership programme at a liberal arts institution in the Northeastern USA, we discuss how crossing the threshold constituted by student–faculty partnership in pedagogical exploration fosters in students greater engagement in, and responsibility for, learning. Implications for higher education include the potential of reconceptualising our classrooms as more democratic spaces and the work of teaching and learning as more of a shared responsibility.     

Student interests and undergraduate performance: the importance of student–course alignment

There has been a growing interest in the influences on undergraduate performance in recent years as a result of the increasing diversity of students entering third-level education and an ever increasing emphasis on the development of a robust knowledge economy. This paper investigates the influence of students’ dominant interest types and prior academic achievement on undergraduate performance in an Irish university. Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) interest inventory was completed by 308 students drawn from three, second year undergraduate programmes in engineering, nursing and teaching. The impact of dominant interest types and prior academic achievement on the performance of these students in their second year was then investigated using correlation and linear regression analyses. When combined, student interests and prior academic achievements were found to account for between 38% and 50% of the variance in undergraduate performance for students in these three undergraduate programmes.     

Extending the Bounds of Race and Racism: Indigenous Women and the Persistence of the Black–White Paradigm of Race

In this article, I illustrate how the dominant Black–White binary paradigm of race in the United States situates Indigenous women as either racialized Others or White Others in the context of a predominantly White university. Race and racism are thus salient in the lives of Indigenous students in multiple and complex ways—ways which are rarely elaborated upon in the current research literature. Angelina E. Castagno is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison.     

Student–student mentoring for retention and engagement in distance education

This article argues that in the drive to develop e‐learning initiatives in distance learning, simpler ways of supporting students for retention may be overlooked; for example, the linking of students in the form of mentoring and peer support networks. The article reports on three mentoring projects, in the United Kingdom, Korea and New Zealand, and shows that apparent retention gains of up to 20% with a return on investment of the order of magnitude of several hundred per cent may be possible. Whilst accepting the limitations of these studies, the article argues that there needs to be a clearer understanding of the benefits of such initiatives when deciding to invest time and funding in distance education support. It suggests that there is still much mileage to be made out of mentoring and ‘study dating’.     

Ratings for the mercantile marine: the roles of charity,the state and industry in the pre-service education and training of ratings for the British Merchant Navy, 1879–1939

Pedagogically aimed craft education was established around the same time as the school-based system of formative education, under the term Sloyd. This refers to a pedagogical system of manual training that promotes general child development, through the acquisition of the technical skills employed in woodwork, metalwork, sewing, knitting and the making of useful objects by hand. The purpose of Sloyd was to employ craft as a tool in general education, in order to build the character of a child, encouraging moral behaviour, greater intelligence and industriousness. The Sloyd pedagogy reached Iceland towards the end of the nineteenth century: during the years 1889–1938, 38 Icelanders had attended Otto Salomon’s teacher-training school in Nääs in Sweden, in order to learn Sloyd. These students became pioneers of the pedagogical craft in Iceland and their influence was significant in the development of the still-existing school subject.     

The personal tutor–student relationship: student expectations and experiences of personal tutoring in higher education

The personal tutor plays a key role in the student experience at university, and personal tutoring embodies the student relationship with the university, suggesting that it has the potential to provide insights beyond that specific relationship to the institution and higher education context. A focus session with first year undergraduate students explored expectations and experiences of personal tutoring from the student perspective. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore students’ lived experiences, and identified superordinate themes of expectations, experiences and relationships, with cluster themes including independence and authenticity. Developing a positive and genuine relationship with the personal tutor was found to ‘buffer’ against some of the first year challenges and contribute towards a sense of belonging. Importantly, this study provides evidence that experiencing poor personal tutoring is worse than not having a personal tutor at all, as this can lead to students experiencing strong negative emotions and re-evaluating their decision to go to university. Implications of these findings in the current higher education context of fee-paying students and competing institutional demands are discussed.     

Biography and social structure in the socialization of student teachers: a re‐examination of the pupil control ideologies of student teachers

This study examined the effects of the student teaching experience on the pupil control ideologies of student teachers and attempted to assess the relative contributions of biography and social structure in determining student teacher attitudes toward pupil control. The subjects were forty elementary student teachers from one midwestern university. The results indicated that student teachers did not become more custodial in their views toward pupil control by the end of the experience. Furthermore, cooperating teachers exerted little influence on student teacher pupil control ideologies once the effects of biography were removed. It was concluded that biography does play an important part in the socialization of student teachers and that future research on student teaching should consider the effects of biography and social structure together within an interactive model of socialization. Finally, the limitations of focusing exclusively on student teacher ideologies are discussed and the concept of perspectives is offered as a potentially heuristic tool for overcoming these limitations.     

From externalizing student behavior to student-specific teacher self-efficacy: The role of teacher-perceived conflict and closeness in the student–teacher relationship

Data gathered from a longitudinal study within regular upper elementary schools were used to evaluate a theoretical model within which teachers’ perceptions of conflict and closeness in the student–teacher relationship were considered as the intermediary mechanisms by which individual students’ externalizing behavior generates changes in teachers’ student-specific self-efficacy beliefs (TSE) across teaching domains. Surveys were administered among a Dutch sample of 524 third-to-sixth graders and their 69 teachers. Longitudinal mediation models indicated that individual students’ externalizing behavior generally predicted higher levels of teacher-perceived conflict, which, in turn, resulted in lower student-specific TSE across teaching domains (i.e., instructional strategies, behavior management, student engagement, and emotional support). Teacher-perceived closeness, however, was not found to mediate the link between externalizing student behavior and student-specific TSE. Instead, support was found for an alternative model representing the hypothesis that TSE, irrespective of teaching domain, mediated behavior-related changes in teachers’ perceptions of closeness in the student–teacher relationship.     

Teacher–student interpersonal relationships in Indonesia: profiles and importance to student motivation

This study was designed to investigate the distribution of interpersonal profiles based on students' and teachers' perceptions and to examine the associations between students' perceptions of teacher interpersonal behaviour and learning motivation in Indonesia. Participants were 1900 secondary school students (grades 7 to 9) across 66 (Mathematics and EFL) classes from 11 public schools in Indonesia. The results show that a variety of interpersonal profiles could be distinguished, that teachers perceive themselves more favourably than their students do, and that students' perceptions of teacher interpersonal behaviour and their learning motivation are associated. Influence and Proximity were found to be important determinants of student motivation; both dimensions are related to a more autonomous motivation, while Influence is also associated with a more controlled motivation. Contrary to the existing knowledge base, this study reveals that the relationship between teacher interpersonal behaviour and student motivation is more strongly connected to Influence than to Proximity.     

Education for girls in Ireland: secondary and vocational curricular provision 1930–1960

A challenge for historians of education is to explain the ways in which the development of education has been a gendered process. The literature tends to focus on primary and secondary schools; the role played by religious orders; the experiences of female teachers; ideological influences on curriculum; and the preparation of young girls for their role in society. Few historians, however, have examined vocational education and the impact of its ‘social efficiency’ orientation on girls. The literature that exists tends to treat both systems separately, and little effort has been made to compare the impact of both systems on girls’ opportunities within the society in which they lived. This omission in the literature is significant as such a comparison facilitates insights regarding state policies and priorities for the education of girls, the impact of social class, and national and local circumstances. This article compares both systems of education in Ireland and their impact on girls during the period 1930–1960.     

Scientists,Engineers and the Society of Free Choice: Enrollment as Policy and Practice in Swedish Science and Technology Education 1960–1990

This article portrays the formation of a new problem area within Swedish educational policy in the 1960s, namely the need of scientific manpower and the demands to entice more individuals into studies in science and technology. As a consequence school science was given the mission to be interesting, fun and to change young people’s attitudes towards these subjects. In the 1970s and 1980s many initiatives were taken to increase the numbers of applicants at high school and university levels, both within curricular frames and out-of-school activities such as science clubs. Through an approach inspired by governmentality studies, I describe the strategies deployed to remedy the problem as rationalities of liberal governmentality. The actions taken were executed in a way to make school children choose science or technology out of their free will. It was an exercise of power that was not meant to restrain but instead to enable action.     

The influence of the school hygiene and paedology movement on the early development of special education in Greece, 1900–1940: the leading role of Emmanuel Lambadarios

This study focuses on the contribution of Emmanuel Lambadarios to special education in Greece in the early twentieth century. It examines Lambadarios’s involvement in special education, culminating in the establishment of the ‘Model Special School of Athens’ (PESA), the first public special education school for children with intellectual disabilities. It specifically explores Lambadarios’s key perceptions of the education of children with disabilities influenced by his medical-centred school hygiene and paedological views, studied within the broader international context of the first four decades of the twentieth century. This is an attempt to shed light on an unknown aspect of the early history of special education in Greece, which appears to be influenced by medicine. Moreover, the latent rivalry between the physician Emmanuel Lambadarios and the educator/head teacher of the PESA, Rosa Imvrioti, indicates an educational resistance to the attempted medicalisation of the early development of special education.     

Ethnic contestation and language policy in a plural society: the Chinese language movement in Malaysia, 1952–1967

The Chinese language movement was launched by the Chinese educationists to demand the recognition of Chinese as an official language to legitimise the status of Chinese education in the national education system in Malaysia. It began in 1952 as a response to the British attempt to establish national primary schools teaching in English and Malay to replace the vernacular primary schools. It picked up pace when the Chinese educationists managed to garner political support for their demand. But the Chinese educationists decided to halt the movement prior to the election of an interim local government following political promises to safeguard Chinese education. Unfortunately, subsequent developments did not live up to their expectations, leading to the revival of the movement, which reached new heights prior to the enactment of the National Language Act in 1967. But the movement was strongly contested by the Malay nationalists affiliated to a language action front.     

Black women’s bodies,ideology, and the public curriculum of the pro- and anti-choice movements in the US

This paper explores how opposite sides of the abortion debate employ a discourse of endangerment to mobilise political support for their ideologies about black women’s bodies. I examine the role of black women within that rhetorical strategy through various rhetorical artefacts. To analyse these artefacts, I employ the theoretical framework of ideological or ideographic criticism. This framework helps us see how the artefacts used by both pro and anti-choice movements ‘condition’ the audience not merely to adopt a set of ‘beliefs and behavior, but a vocabulary of concepts that function as guides, warrants, reasons, or excuses for behavior and belief’. Though the two sides of the abortion debate differ in their overt political views, they turn out to share an implicit ideology about black women. This ideology prevents the voices of black women from being heard and valued in a debate that is nonetheless focused on black women’s bodies.